Lansdowne 30 Garryowen 13
Jan 10, 2012
Lansdowne took the honours beating Garryowen in an entertaining match in Saturday afternoon's All Ireland League Division 1A clash at home at the Aviva Stadium back pitch. Both sides went into the match with 4 wins from seven under their belt with Garryowen just 1 point ahead of Lansdowne on 19 points.
Lansdowne took time to settle into the game allowing Garryowen to dominate territory and possession in the early stages which ended in Lansdowne conceding a penalty from a scrum inside their own 22 to give Garryowen's outhalf Fergal Lawlor an easy 3 points.
Lansdowne got back into it soon after when out-half Craig Ronaldson spurred his side on with a decisive break. Off the next phase Ronaldson sidestepped the defence to set up winger Cian Aherne for the try which Ronaldson duly converted.
Garryowen came back and earned a penalty deep inside Lansdowne territory however Lawlor pushed his kick wide in what was a let off for the home side. Garryowen were left to rue this miss when soon after Ronaldson put full-back and captain Ross McCarron over in the right corner for the second try of the afternoon. The try went unconverted leaving the scoreline at 12-3.
Lansdowne had found their rhythm and continued to pressure the Garryowen defence however Garryowen were quick to counter on any Lansdowne lapses and should really have narrowed the gap when they were awarded a penalty just right of the posts following a quick counter attack. Lawler will be disappointed not to have added to his tally from so close in as once again Lansdowne were let off the hook and added further salt to the wound by increasing their lead with a penalty of their own superbly struck into a difficult wind by Ronaldson. The Lansdowne pressure continued with Healy coming close to scoring but to no avail as the half ended 15-3 in Lansdowne's favour.
Despite playing into what was now a strong wind Garryowen started strongly in the second half but were disheartened to see Ronaldson extend Lansdowne's lead with another penalty. To their credit Garryowen fought back with a try from Hanley, with Lansdowne down to 14 men after Neilus Keogh had been sin-binned.
Some strong defence continued to frustrate Garryowen until Lansdowne eventually struck again for a 3rd try, this time from replacement Willie Earl, which effectively killed off Garryowen's chances. After a crunching hit from hardworking Kiwi flanker Jason Kelly the young 2nd row Tadgh Beirne latched onto the loose ball breaking forward with pace into the Garryowen half. The quickly recycled ball allowed Ronaldson the opportunity to once again test a scrambling Garryowen defence and with a lovely round the tackle offload put the galloping Willie Earl in from 25 metres to score under the sticks.
Garryowen added a late try from Neville but the icing on the cake for Lansdowne came when McCarron struck for his 2nd and Lansdowne's 4th try of the afternoon thus ensuring the bonus point as Lansdowne ran out comfortable winners. Replacement prop Ian Prenderville turned over the ball just on the halfway line offloading to Keogh who eventually fed McCarron to touch down in the left corner.
The final score was Lansdowne 30 Garryowen 13 leaving Lansdowne in 4th position behind Clontarf. Crucially though other results left us just four points from the top in what is turning out to be a very tight league.
Next up at home this Saturday is a rejuvenated Blackrock side who put in a strong bonus point win themselves against Shannon in what should be a great Dublin derby. Please come along and support this team and treat yourself to hopefully a fantastic game of rugby. If you and your friends would like to attend the pre-match lunch give Eleanor a call in the office to take a table and make it a day to remember.
Scorers: Lansdowne: Tries: Cian Aherne, Ross McCarron 2, Willie Earle;
Cons: Craig Ronaldson 2; Pens: Craig Ronaldson 2
Garryowen: Tries: Ian Hanly, Paul Neville; Pen: Fergal Lawlor
HT: Lansdowne 15 Garryowen 3
Article related to 1st XV team.
Article related to 1st XV v Garryowen fixture.
